August Chicken

It’s August, for just a little while longer, which means the garden is full of vegetables just begging to be eaten. I recently made my first batch of Fresh Tomato Sauce; now it’s time to come up with ways to use it. I wanted a one-pot meal because my dishwasher is still broken. I don’t mind washing dishes by hand on occasion, but right now I just have too much else to do. So I took my harvest basket out to the garden and picked a variety of herbs and vegetables. The only things in this dish that did not come from my garden are the chicken, garlic (which I seem to have left out of the photo again), and parmesan. Well, the salt & pepper, too, but I ended up not using any. The resulting dish is yummy, easy, & a breeze to clean up from.

Hand-washing dishes always reminds me of my mom. She and her brother had that job when they were growing up. Like most siblings, they’d occasionally bicker. My grandmother cut out a poem she found in the newspaper, tacked it up over the sink, and made them recite it whenever they got to bickering. Of course, my sister, cousins, and I all ended up memorizing it, too, and even some of our kids:

Life is like a journey taken on a train,
With a different passenger at each window pane.
I may sit beside you all the journey through,
or I may sit elsewhere, never knowing you.
But if kindly fate decree I sit by your side,
Let’s be pleasant passengers, it’s so short a ride.

Good words to live by!

You’ll find a printer-friendly version of the recipe at the bottom of this page.

1.) If you’re not using fresh beans, skip to Step 2. If you are, shell them now before starting the rest of the dish.

2.) Heat oil in a sauté pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and brown on both sides.

3.) While chicken browns, mince fresh herbs, jalapeño, and garlic.

4.) Add the minced herbs, jalapeño, and garlic to the pan. Sauté 30 seconds, just until the garlic becomes fragrant. Keep your face away from the pan so that you don’t get any of the jalapeño fumes in your eyes.

5.) Add the tomato sauce, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the beans, and reduce to medium-low heat. Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken, or until nearly done.

6.) While the chicken cooks, prepare the chard. Cut out the thick stems, chop them into half-inch lengths, and cut the leaves into one-inch pieces. Add to the pan and cover again.

trim chard stalk

chopped chard

7.) Cook another minute or two, until chard has wilted and chicken is done.

8.) Remove chicken, beans, and chard to a serving platter. Increase heat to medium-high and cook until sauce reaches desired consistency, just a few minutes. Pour the sauce over the chicken and shower with the freshly grated parmesan to serve.

Directions

1.) If you’re not using fresh beans, skip to Step 2. If you are, shell them now before starting the rest of the dish.

2.) Heat oil in a sauté pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and brown on both sides.

3.) While chicken browns, mince fresh herbs, jalapeño, and garlic.

4.) Add the minced herbs, jalapeño, and garlic to the pan. Sauté 30 seconds, just until the garlic becomes fragrant. Keep your face away from the pan so that you don’t get any of the steam in your eyes.

5.) Add the tomato sauce, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the beans, and reduce to medium-low heat. Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken, or until nearly done.

6.) While the chicken cooks, prepare the chard. Cut out the thick stems, chop them into half-inch lengths, and cut the leaves into one-inch pieces. Add to the pan and cover again.

7.) Cook another minute or two, until chard has wilted and chicken is done.

8.) Remove chicken, beans, and chard to a serving platter. Increase heat to medium-high and cook until sauce reaches desired consistency, just a few minutes. Pour the sauce over the chicken and shower with the freshly grated parmesan to serve.